experts meets the public, and business meets the industry. Characterized in innovation, systematic framework and
sophisticated research, Digital Yuanmingyuan has attracted attentions and praises from both home and abroad.
In the past ten years, the team of “Digital Yuanmingyuan”
completed 67 of the 110 scenic areas in the Old Summer Palace 60 area restoration and analysed possible changes over a
period of 300 years 195 chrono-spatial units. This includes the areas depicted on the
Forty Views
of the Chinese Garden and the twenty copperplate engravings of the Western Buildings
Xiyanglou. Several databases were built, including the YMY Chinese architecture standard component library, the plant
material library, the indoor material library, and the Western Building component library. More than 30 tourism-oriented
digital products were developed, including a mobile navigation system in the form of VR Virtual Reality glasses that provide
a 360-degree immersive experience, a virtual roaming system for the internet, ARG Augmented Reality Game as part of the
middle-school
curriculum, holographic
models, AR
Augmented Reality postcards, 3D digital reconstruction movies and animation films. Additionally, exhibitions were held
at the archaeological site of the Old Summer Palace and at many other sites at home and abroad, all of which received
good feedback. Through intellectual property investment, the company
“Beijing Re-Yuanmingyuan Co., Ltd.” was established in 2014.
2.2.1 Work Organization
A. Multi-professional,
Inter-disciplinary Team:
The completion of a large-scale scientific research projects requires
a firm and rigorous approach, patience, and a good long-term work plan. The team of Digital YMY team consists of
representatives from all of the fields engaged in digital cultural heritage, ranging from professionals engaged in humanities
archaeology, architecture, art, history to engineering and technology 3D modelling, VRAR technologies, visual arts,
database construction, network engineering; different stages however might need different experts. Our decade-long work
formed a group of young scholars dedicated to the theoretical study and practical preservation of cultural heritage that goes
beyond the borders of the traditional.
Figure 3. A multidisciplinary team
B. Organized Workflow: The digital reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace is divided into 4 stages subdivided into 12
steps: information collection — historical research and
restoration design
—3D scenic
area construction
— publicationrelease and maintenanceupdate dissemination
maintenance Figure 4. Digital Workflow Data collection
2.2.2 Research-based Digital Content
A. Composition of Historical Space-time: During the process of digital reconstruction, we established a four-dimensional
model view of history that integrates both the space and the time. The evolution process of each scenic area is captured
through chrono-spatial units; each unit revives the condition of the site at a particular point of time and together they show the
overall evolution
of the site. “Space”, i.e. the “Three gardens of Yuanmingyuan”, is divided into 110 scenic area units, and
“time”, i.e. from the early 18th century to present, into 13 time units. Today, the digital reconstruction for 6 of these
chronological periods is completed, including early- Qianlong 1736-1755, mid- Qianlong 1756-1775, and late-Qianlong
1776-1795 periods, Jiaqing period 1796-1820, early Daoguang period 1820-1830, Daoguang and Xianfeng period
1820-1861 and the period of the garden as an archaeological park second half of the 20th century Yan 2010.
B. Heritage
Site Information
Record: The digital
reconstruction is based on research and the collection of relevant material about the Old Summer Palace. This contains
two aspects: first, through the study of historical documents, archives, relics, and excavation reports, identify, record, and
store information; second, through the site survey and mapping, obtain and document information. Due to the different
professional background of the team members, every object provides a wealth of different information, and thus, requires
the team members to carry out comprehensive mapping and documentation on site. This can supplement the archaeological
report and moreover, provides first clues for archaeological interpretation. For example, in 2014, we used ground-
penetrating radar at Haiyantang, one of the Western buildings, to determine the positions of the water pipes under the ground.
C. Computer-generated Component and Spatial Simulation Models: Sometimes digital and virtual restoration must start
from scratch off-site office work. For example, we used point cloud data obtained through 3D laser scanning of the physical
remains to generate individual component models. Then, we placed them, as close as possible, at their original position in
three-dimensional space and assembled them virtually, taking into account the characteristics of data processing and relevant
historical information. Next, we set up a collection of three- dimensional components and, after adding textual and visual
information, established a component library that allows performing and displaying query results.
Some parts of a building might lack information, and this is when the digital modelling comes in handy. It allows maximum
trial and error, which leads to relatively complete and reliable
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. doi:10.5194isprs-archives-XLII-2-W5-335-2017 | © Authors 2017. CC BY 4.0 License.
338
results. For example, the copperplate engraving of Haiyantang suggested that the second floor of the core building consisted of
five sections, but an old photograph depicted only four segments. We used the actual dimensions of the existing column
base to create two digital column models, one with four segments and another one with five segments. A comparison of
the 3D models with the photograph same angle revealed that the column should only have four segments.
Figure 5. Western Building component library
Figure 6. Virtual assembly of Haiyantang
Figure 7. Comparison of the digital model and the historical photograph from the same perspective
D. Re-discovery of Colours: The Western-style ruins of the Old Summer Palace were rich in colour, ranging from white to
yellow and blue. Built of stone, these buildings were not painted but, according to Chinese tradition, decorated with
colourful glazed ceramic tiles of fanciful Baroque and Rococo shapes. Up to present, we identified 90 component types and
confirmed the location of 18 components. But the colours of these glazed tiles did not match with the colour scheme from the
old photographs. By using RGB colour channels to experiment with the colours
, we discovered that the “dark” coloured components in the old pictures were in fact yellow, and the
“light” coloured component were blue. A photography expert explained that the blue RGB colour filter that produced such
results was not used at that time. Thus, the colour divergence probably stemmed from the colour-rendering agent of the
photographer. Such virtual test helped us to restore the colours of the glazed building components of the Western Buildings
correctly.
Figure 8. Terra cotta fragments from the Western Complex stored at the warehouse
Figure 9. Decorative components from the balusterade at the third level of the main building of Xieqqu,
Figure 10. Experiment of the RGB Channel
E. Qing-dynasty Architectural History: The architecture of the Old Summer Palace is unique and creative in terms of
overall layout, proportional design of buildings, construction technology, and decoration.
Yuanmingyuan neigong zeli
records many methods that differ from the conventional building style
of the Qing dynasty. The early, middle and late Qing dynasty possesses its own distinctive characteristics. It is thus possible
to identify the design rules of each period through comparison with the Yangshi Lei Archives,
Yuanmingyuan neigong zeli
,
Forty Views
, and old photographs in combination with the measurements of the archaeological remains and art objects on
site, and to establish and operate computerized material libraries.
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. doi:10.5194isprs-archives-XLII-2-W5-335-2017 | © Authors 2017. CC BY 4.0 License.
339
Figure 11 Digital reconstruction of traditional buildings by referring to Yangshi Lei Archives
and
Yuanmingyuan neigong zeli
F. Precision and Accuracy Assessment: Digital reconstruction is based on actual field measurements and must meet digital
construction standards. This rule applies not only to the digital models of the current state of the site but also to the restoration
design of hidden or lost parts of a building. The spatial quality that becomes evident in the 3D models then, in turn, enriches
and supplements the digital reconstruction. For example artificial rockery uses three-dimensional stones to simulate the
actual stacking process of the stones
—for example, the garden behind the Wenyuange consist of more than 1500 individually
designed rocks —and this achieves a reality-like landscape effect.
Figure 12 More than 1500 3D rocks to simulate the piling up of the rockwork
Digital reconstruction models depend on the degree of detail and the thoroughness and accuracy of the material, and are
judged against the standards set by our team. The standards for digital reconstruction are objective and transparent; they
address the accuracy of the virtual model and build on rigorous academic principles. This includes detailed documentation in
order to guarantee the performance and allow for modifications at a later point in time.
2.2.3
New Digital-born Products: We have developed the
full potential of digital heritage to combine the various fields, branches and sectors interested, and, in accordance with the
digital content, synthesized the three concepts of “basic information
management —digital scenery construction—
dissemination of cultural information ”. As a result and with the
help of VR, AR, navigation services, mobile internet, and networking and cloud technologies, we have created 30 new
cultural heritage experience modes available on-site + online + offline that allow a more comprehensive and a more intuitive
way of heritage interpretation. A. Mobile Navigation on Site: The core of the mobile tourist
guide to the Old Summer Palace is as follows: Placing the degrade ruins current state and the revived splendor original
state at a particular period in time with their extremely dissimilar means of expression side by side creates a string
contrast and provides a direct emotional site experience. In 2012,
the iPad app “Re-YMY” Chinese version was launched and this application reached the first place of the bestseller in
the Apple Store. In 2015, the mobile tourist guide, “Digital
YMY” v1.0, for smart phones was launched and is now available at the site.
In 2016, the “Digital YMY” v2.0 and “Virtual reality glasses” completed the beta period and were
launched to the public. C. International Presence of China: As a showcase for
systematic research, restoration design and digital exhibition of Chinese cultural heritage, the Digital Yuanmingyuan project
approaches the educated public at home and abroad. We organized or participated in international activities in more than
ten countries including the United States, England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Greece, and Spain.
D. Worldwide Webservice and Social Media: In addition to the webpage
